Movers load 139-year-old San Francisco home onto big dollies, roll it to new handle six blocks away
After 139 years at 807 Franklin Street in San Francisco, a two-storey Victorian house has a new address.
Key points:
- Movers had to secure permits from more than 15 agencies ahead of the move, a local paper said
- The house’s owner reportedly spent about $US400,000 in fees and moving costs
- The home previously sat on a prime lot and its owner sold the property to a developer, the San Francisco Chronicle wrote
The green home with large windows and a brown front door was loaded onto giant dollies and moved on Sunday (local time) to a location six blocks away.
Onlookers lined footpaths to snap photos as the structure rolled — at a top speed of 1.6 kilometres per hour — to 635 Fulton Street.
The house’s journey has been in the planning stages for years, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Veteran house mover Phil Joy told the newspaper he had to secure permits from more than 15 city agencies.
Mr Joy said the move was tricky, in part because the first part of the journey involved going downhill.
“That’s always difficult for a house,” he said.
Along the route, parking meters were ripped up, tree limbs were trimmed and traffic signs were relocated.
The owner of the six-bedroom house, San Francisco broker Tim Brown, will pay about $US400,000 ($508,828) in fees and moving costs, the Chronicle said.
The house, which needs massive repairs, sat on a prime lot so valuable its owner sold the property to a developer who planned to build an apartment block on the site, the paper added.
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